Fighting malware and spam

Exploit

Attack using vulnerability in software

An exploit is an attempt to take advantage of a flaw or vulnerability in an operating system or piece of software. Serious vulnerabilities, particularly when found in core parts of the system or in network-facing software such as browsers, can be exploited to allow attackers complete system access.

Many types of malware, particularly worms, use exploits to spread. Some of the most widespread worms, such as SQL/Slammer, have made use of vulnerabilities in network software to find and access vulnerable hosts. One of the most common forms of exploit is the buffer overflow attack.

Related news articles

Bumper crop of October patch releases

Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans.

16 October 2009

Patch Tuesday brings little relief from browser exploits

Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.

15 July 2009

Another IE zero day exploited

Second DirectShow vulnerability in six weeks labelled 'extremely critical'.

07 July 2009

Gumblar compromise growth continues

Dominant web threat infecting still more vulnerable sites.

20 May 2009

March Patch Tuesday followed by PDF viewer patches

Major kernel issue and PDF problems fixed, spreadsheet software remains vulnerable.

12 March 2009

  see all related news stories

Poll

VB100 certification